


What Now?

by ANoGoodPigeon



Series: What If... [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Zuko (Avatar), Sokka is kinda a jerk but justified, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, Zuko joins the gaang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23918191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANoGoodPigeon/pseuds/ANoGoodPigeon
Summary: “A long time ago,” he says slowly, as if he's considering every word one by one, and glances at his uncle, “you asked me if we could’ve been friends.”Aang feels the shock flow through him but says nothing, just keeps calm and lets his face rest into something neutral. Zuko finally looks back at him.“Would you still ask that?”(Or the one where Zuko joins the Gaang after "The Chase")
Relationships: Aang & The Gaang (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: What If... [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724050
Comments: 76
Kudos: 1586
Collections: I think of you as my own, Quality Fics, avatar tingz





	What Now?

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my new "what if" series: just a series of "what ifs" I ask myself at 2AM in the morning while thinking about Avatar for the fiftieth time that day
> 
> I just [clenches fist] love AtLA so much

_“Get away from us!”_

_“Zuko, I can help!”_

_“LEAVE!”_

Nobody moves as Zuko clutches his head, despair in every part of his body as he hovers over his uncle’s prone form. Aang feels the haze of sleep disappear briefly as cold, chilling fear grips him. Iroh doesn’t move. He can’t tell if he's breathing. Toph breaks the silence.

“Zuko, he needs help.” 

Zuko grits his teeth, clenching and unclenching his fist, and then stands up. He rounds on them, snarling.

“Hurt him and I don’t care if you’re the Avatar, I will _destroy_ you.”

“Hey--“

“--It’s okay Sokka.” Aang puts out an arm, uncharacteristically serious, and nods. “We understand.”

Katara watches their exchange and when Zuko turns furious eyes at her she doesn’t flinch. There’s something familiar in them. An anger and grief she can feel deep in her heart. She nods, jaw set.

“I can do it.”

He narrows his eyes and then glances down at his uncle and his expression becomes more desperate. With a tension that looks like it physically hurts, he takes a step back but keeps his right side turned toward the group.

Katara takes this as her cue and kneels down, glowing water already pulled to her hands and spinning. No one says anything. Zuko feels his whole body thrum with alertness. He opens and closes his hands. He does nothing but think about a pulse of blue fire, a sharp shout, and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

He flinches, too caught up in his thoughts, as a hand lightly touches his arm. Fire sparks at his fingertips as he recognizes Toph in time not to throw a fist full of fire her way. 

He hisses between clenched teeth. “Don’t _do_ that!”

Toph moves clouded eyes in his direction, ignoring his threat, and says softly. “He’ll be okay.”

Zuko scoffs. “You don’t know that.”

“I do.” Toph nods. 

Zuko doesn’t know how to respond to that but he’s saved from coming up with something when a wet cough interrupts his thoughts. Forgetting everyone, Zuko whips around to see his uncle who, despite not opening his eyes, groans. Katara scrambles to get out of his way as Zuko practically throws himself to the ground.

“Uncle!” He grabs a weathered hand and pulls it gently to his chest, “Uncle?”

“I did what I could for now but he’s gonna need more care.” She bottles her water and looks around. “Is there any place we can move him?”

“Katara--“

Katara rounds on her brother. “--I meant it when I said it, Sokka. I will never turn my back on someone who needs me.”

Sokka purses his lips and shakes his head. “Which I understand, I really do, but just a week ago these two were chasing us around and trying to set us on fire. I won’t apologize for not wanting to be around them.”

Zuko growls, “so you’re just gonna let my uncle _die_?”

“Hey man, I honestly have nothing against your uncle. He seems pretty chill.” Sokka raises his hands. “But how do we know the minute he’s okay you won’t try to kidnap Aang or turn us to ash or something?”

Zuko scowls and crouches into a more aggressive stance. 

“Hey!” Aang jumps between them, arms out. “Let’s just calm down!”

“My uncle is _dying_ \--”

“--I understand, okay.” Aang gives Sokka a look, who crosses his arms and reluctantly takes a step back, then he turns to Zuko. “We will help him. But you have to promise you won’t do anything when we finish.”

“Ha, like that’ll stop him from doing what he wants!”

Aang frowns and glances at Sokka who just shrugs, unapologetic. Zuko glares at them both but loosens his stance. He takes a breath and exhales slowly, smoke billowing from his nose and mouth. He says through his teeth.

“Just _help_ him. I won’t do anything.” 

Aang raises an eyebrow and Zuko rolls his eyes. “I promise.”

Smiling, Aang relaxes, “see, everything will be fine!”

Sokka flails but Toph, who up until this point had just been listening to them, shoulders her way past him.

“He’s telling the truth so I say we stop standing around and get on with it!”

Zuko blinks at her, a little taken aback but she turns to him with a knowing look that says a lot more than he’s comfortable interpreting.

Katara steps forward again. 

“Come on, let’s get him up and move him somewhere a little more comfortable.”

Zuko hesitates but nods and points toward the end of the ruins. “There’s an empty house down the road.”

“I can’t _believe_ you’re just gonna do this.” Sokka tries once more to be the voice of reason but everybody has already started moving so he sighs, defeated. “Alright, we’re doing this.”

It takes them a while to move Iroh safely but they eventually get to the house with some creative uses of earth and airbending. The whole time Zuko hovers and snaps at them to be more gentle. Sokka takes to quipping back but after a while even he feels the strain of the day and everybody settles down, quiet once they finally have Iroh bandaged and lying down. 

Zuko huffs.

“So...what now?”

Aang contemplates this for a moment. They’ve formed a sort of semi-circle around the bed. 

“Are you going to attack us?”

Zuko pulls one knee up to lie an arm on, as he sits like a guard in front of his uncle. Again, he rolls his eyes.

“I promised I wouldn't, didn't I?” He sounds tired as he looks up at the ceiling. “You should probably just go.”

Aang purses his lips. “What will you do?”

Zuko looks at him, confused. “What will--I’m going to make sure my uncle’s okay. After that...who knows.”

He sounds so mad at himself, Aang can't help but watch him for a moment. Zuko doesn't say anything, just sits there like all the fight has been drained out of him. Something about it makes Aang's chest ache.

“So, you’re not going to go catch up with your...sister, right?”

Zuko snaps his head down, teeth bared, and practically growls. “I’m not going anywhere _near_ her unless it’s to repay her for what she’s done!”

Everyone feels the air around them heat up a few degrees and they all feel themselves tense before it eases.

They sit in silence. 

“And I thought _I_ had sibling problems.” Sokka whistles and Katara swats him on the arm as she turns back to Zuko.

“Hey--”

“--so you’re not going to attack us and you’re not going to help your sister attack us. What does that mean?”

Zuko feels himself draw back slightly at the insistent look on her face. “I don’t know. Why are you guys still here?”

Toph tilts her head from where she’s been lounging near the doorway and says in an almost off-handed way. “You’re pretty lucky, you know.”

“What?” He frowns but she shrugs, casual.

“Nothing, just a thought.”

“Maybe keep those to yourself, then.” He keeps frowning, not sure he likes this new addition to the Avatar’s group. Something about her makes him feel like she knows too much. It puts him in edge.

Katara scrutinizes him. “Are you always this rude? We _just_ helped your uncle.”

He levels her with a look. “Unfortunately.” 

“Okay!” Aang jumps in, voice a little too happy. “So Zuko’s not going to torch us and your uncle looks like he’ll live. Good job, team!”

“I’m _not_ part of your team, Avatar.” Zuko crosses his arms and looks away. 

“And aren’t we all the better for it. Alright Gang!” Sokka claps his hands and spreads his arms, “Let’s leave the jerkbenders here and get going before he changes his mind.”

Katara shoots him a look that makes him cower a bit before she reluctantly turns to Aang. “We probably should get going, Aang.” 

“Ugh, do we _have_ to!” Toph complains loudly, leaning back on her hands and making no attempt to get up. Aang looks like he wants to mimic her but then an idea forms in his head. With a delighted grin he spins to Zuko who eyes him, cautious of his sudden change in mood.

“I need to learn all the elements!”

Zuko blinks, caught off guard as his mind processes, then he narrows his eyes. “No.”

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say!”

“My answer is still no.”

“But Zuko, you don’t understa--“

“--I don't know what about _this_ ,” he gestures between them, “made you think I’d be willing to teach you anything, let alone join this little group of yours.”

“Hey!” Sokka sniffs, “just so you know, we prefer to call ourselves the Gaang . And um, Aang _can we talk for a moment!_ ”

Zuko levels a look at Aang and gestures to Sokka as if to say, “case in point.”

Aang pushes forward though, waving a hand.

“Ignore Sokka--“

“--why is everyone--“

“—I _need_ a firebending teacher if I’m ever going to bring peace to the world. I’ve seen you in action. I _know_ you could do it!”

He presses closer. Zuko shakes his head, fully astounded by this turn of events. 

“Avatar, I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Aang--”

“Sokka, look!” Aang turns to him now. “I get it. I know what I’m asking is a lot for both sides but we’re running out of time and if I don’t find a teacher then who _cares_ if they’ve been chasing us around. _No one_ will survive. Everyone is in trouble. Working together is our best chance!”

Sokka stares and looks at Toph who shrugs and then at Katara who meets his gaze. The rooms watches as the siblings seem to have an entire conversation in just a few seconds of silence. The determined look returns to Katara's face and she nods. After a moment he shakes his head but his shoulders sag. “Of all the possible firebenders in the world, it had to be _him?”_

Zuko ignores the jab but wavers, brow furrowed. He shakes his head again, unable to wrap his mind around all of this. “I don’t--”

“--Zuko, _please_.” Aang, emboldened by his friends’ support, clasps his hands and raises them over his head. Zuko gapes, thrown off by the display. He looks around, hoping maybe one of the others will realize how terrible an idea this is and jump in to convince Aang otherwise, but all he sees are various expressions of acceptance. 

He sighs and mumbles to the ground, making one last attempt to be reasonable. “You’d be better off asking my uncle.”

It’s not a rejection, Aang thinks. And _maybe_ Iroh would be a better teacher but something in his gut tells him this is right, so he doesn’t back down.

Instead, he raises his head, drops his arms, and for the first time leaves himself open to the firebender. “No Zuko, it has to be you.”

No one moves or says anything. Zuko looks between every member and then back to the sleeping figure of his uncle. 

“He’s all I have.” It’s a whisper but it’s the truth. The moment Azula’s blast hit Iroh, Zuko knew there was no going back. He spent all his life on a hopeless mission trying find something he thought he wanted. He hadn’t realized until right then, that he had already had it.

And then he almost lost him.

“Then we’ll make sure he’s safe.” Aang’s voice is clear and firm. An unwavering conviction. Zuko sneers.

“You can’t promise that.”

Aang straightens, shoulders back. “Yes, I can.”

Zuko glances back at him, thrown off guard by the sheer determination in his voice. It almost makes him believe he means it. They stare each other down, gold to grey. Zuko blinks first.

“A long time ago,” he says slowly, as if he's considering every word one by one, and glances at his uncle, “you asked me if we could’ve been friends.”

Aang feels the shock flow through him but says nothing, just keeps calm and lets his face rest into something neutral. Zuko finally looks back at him.

“Would you still ask that?”

Aang feels it. A shift, small and just barely there. It’s like his very soul is humming, vibrating with the anticipation of something momentous. He knows his next words would affect the fate of the world.

“Of course.”

Zuko just stares at him, eyes wide. Then he shakes his head. Aang feels his stomach drop but Zuko only sighs, shoulders slumping.

“Does this mean I have to ride the bison?”

Aang sucks in a breath and yells, leaning forward. “You mean it?”

Completely disregarding that they were enemies a mere hour ago, he flings himself forward and pushes himself into Zuko’s space with a blast of wind. He’s grinning now as he says with a sense of eagerness and hope he hasn’t truly felt in a while, “You’ll really come with us and you’ll teach me firebending?”

“Can I change my mind?” Zuko tries to back away, lifting his arms up in a half-hearted attempt to ward off Aang.

Toph laughs, triumphant, and throws her hands into the air. “Finally, someone else who prefers not to fly!”

Sokka eyes him warily but something about how defeated Zuko sounds pulls at something familiar in himself.

“Alright, welcome welcome blah blah,” he turns and starts heading out of the house. “We better go before Her Royal Terror comes back to finish the job His Royal Hothead won’t do.”

It comes out less mean than he probably intends. Toph laughs and finally gets up. 

“I can’t _wait_ to train with you! I’ve always wanted to know just how much my earthbending would kick a firebending master’s butt!” Before Zuko can protest any of that, she too marches out. Katara goes to follow them but he calls out.

“Katara!” 

Katara turns to Zuko, wary. He looks surprised himself but continues.

“Thank you.” 

Her eyes widen as he holds her stare. Slowly, she nods.

“Your uncle is a good person.”

He looks down.

“I know.”

Katara watches him before she smiles, just a little bit. 

“We’ll leave you two alone. Come on, Aang!”

Aang grins at Zuko and then whirls away, leaving a breeze that ruffles Zuko’s hair. He watches them go and turns around.

“Why do I feel like I’ve made a big mistake.”

Iroh grins at him from where he’s sat up, tears in his eyes. “I’m _so_ proud of you.”

Zuko looks at him then slowly gets onto his knees and pulls himself up to sit by his uncle’s side. He puts his head into his hands and breathes deeply a few times, a little bit of smoke blowing through his fingers. 

In a voice that's small and muffled, he says, “I thought I was gonna lose you.”

Iroh lifts a gentle but firm hand and softly squeezes his shoulder. “I will always be by your side, my nephew.” 

Zuko snorts, face still in his hands. Suddenly he throws himself at Iroh, wrapping his arms tightly around him, and clutches his robes in shaking fists. Iroh doesn’t hesitate. He immediately wraps his arms around him and buries his nose in dark soot-covered hair.

“I’m sorry I made you worry.”

Zuko shakes his head and doesn’t let go.

“I think that’s my line.”

Iroh laughs and Zuko feels something click into place as the vibrations shake him. 

“Did I make the right choice?” He pulls back a little. His uncle regards him for a bit and smiles.

“What is your heart telling you?”

Zuko furrows his brow and really thinks about that. Despite the chaos and despair of the past few days, he feels lighter. He frowns.

“I think I made friends.”

Iroh’s smile turns a little sad, as he thinks about the boy in his arms and the events of his life, but he nods. 

“A good first few.”

Zuko blinks at him. There’s a bellow from outside and then Aang comes flying in, literally. He touches down calmly in front of them and smiles.

“Sokka says we’re only a few hours away from the next village. If we start right now we might _actually_ get to sleep in real beds tonight!”

He bounces on the balls of his feet and Zuko feels himself recoil slightly at the pure unbridled enthusiasm. Iroh chuckles and places a hand on his shoulder as he slowly eases himself out of bed.

“Uncle!”

“A nice warm bed sounds excellent, doesn’t it Prince Zuko.” His eyes twinkle as Zuko frantically tries to help him. “Perhaps they’ll have some tea on hand.”

Zuko gives up as Iroh makes his way to the entrance and Aang watches them go with a bemused look. Zuko catches him staring and snaps.

“What?”

Aang smiles and shakes his head. “Nothing! Do you guys get seasick?”

Zuko pauses. “Uh, no?”

“Good!” Aang claps his hands and then starts herding them forward. “Flying bison 101, just hang onto the saddle and keep your arms and legs inside, and you should be fine!”

“What have I done.” Zuko digs in his heels slightly as they approach Appa.

Iroh grins. “Like I said, I am proud of you nephew.”

He bows his head in gratitude as Toph gently earthbends him into the saddle, her own grin wide and overjoyed. 

Zuko stands next to Aang who very patiently lets him take in everything as he crosses his arms languidly behind his back. 

“You know,” Aang tilts his head and turns toward him, “does this make you my Sifu?”

Zuko just stands there and stares as Aang grins, mischievous and delighted. Zuko thinks, not for the first time in the span of a minute, this was mistake.

“I regret everything.”

Aang laughs. “That's the spirit! Now, onto the sky bison!”

Zuko doesn't have time to protest as Aang wraps one skinny arm around his waist and then hurls them to the top. No one comments on his surprised scream or the way he immediately latches onto the saddle. 

Toph smiles at him. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it!”

He has a feeling she means more than flying. 

Aang snaps the reigns. “Yip yip! Remember, arms and legs!”

Zuko doesn’t think he can grasp the leather any tighter.

“Aang, I changed my mind! Put me down and take my uncle!”

“What did you say, Sifu Hotman?” Aang yells over his shoulder, eyes twinkling, and pretends to cup his ear.

Zuko doesn’t have time to respond as Appa lifts his tail once and launches them into the sky.  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Zuko: not evil anymore, I want to be loved now  
> Zuko, after The Gaang decides to be his friend: evil again


End file.
